


Like Real People Do

by colormyheartred



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 06:06:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7965448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colormyheartred/pseuds/colormyheartred
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>my take on the prompt: "we both stayed in the dorms for winter break and basically have the whole building to ourselves so maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to hang out" captain swan college au</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Real People Do

Emma Swan wakes with a start to loud music that certainly isn’t coming from inside of her apartment.

She bolts upright, narrowing her eyes at her alarm clock. It’s only seven on Saturday morning, the first Saturday of winter break, and she’s quite frankly _pissed_.

She had been under the assumption that no one else would be here over break, which is understandable because most people have _families_ to go home to, or at least friends to tag along with. Emma’s different. Emma doesn’t have either.

Well, sure, she has _some_ friends. But those friends are not people she would like to spend four weeks of her life mooching off of.

Emma whips herself out of her bed and wraps her throw blanket over her shoulders before stuffing her feet into her shoes. She grabs her keys and heads out to find the source of her early morning wake up call.

She finds it fast. The jerk is two doors down from her, and the music is accompanied by some rough vocals from the guy blasting it.

He’s not bad, but it’s _seven in the morning_. And it’s for that reason that Emma doesn’t give any qualms about it as she starts beating at the door.

The singing stops first, then there’s some shuffling around and she thinks he trips on something because he curses before ultimately the music stops and his hurried footsteps find the door.

He swings it open and _God_ she is _not_ prepared for the sight on the other side.

He’s tall, dark, and handsome, with bright baby blues and messy dark hair. He’s wearing sweats and a vintage Star Wars tee shirt and dammit if she knew this was what lay beyond door number 202, she wouldn’t be so pissed at his music right now.

However, she came to him in a mood, so she has to stick to her guns. Emma gives him her best glare.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, blasting music at seven a.m.? Other people live here, too, you know.”

He immediately looks apologetic and shakes his head. “Apologies. I had no idea. I thought I was alone for the holidays.”

Emma stares at him for a second longer, stewing in her anger, before she gives a relenting nod. “Yeah. Me too.”

A slow, ridiculously attractive smile spreads on his face and Emma loathes herself for ever leaving her apartment for this because now she can’t ever go back.

“Killian Jones,” he supplies, his accent clipping as he says his name. He sticks out his hand and Emma stares at it for a second before taking it.

“Emma Swan,”

His smile grows. “Nice to meet you, Swan.”

“Yeah,” she manages, releasing her hand from his firm grip.

Killian stares at her for a few seconds in thought before he tilts his head back. “I’m stuck here because I’m from England and I couldn’t manage a flight on student income. You?”

Emma shakes her head. “I’m working and I don’t have any place to call home, exactly, so…” She ends on a shrug and pulls her blanket tighter around her.

Her neighbor frowns. “I’m sure that isn’t true.”

Her laugh is self-loathed as she shakes her head. “Yeah, well, it is when you spend your life bouncing from foster home to group home and don’t end up being placed in an actual _home_.”

She doesn’t typically share her story with people. It scares them away. But there’s something about Killian, something in his eyes that she thinks is _safe_.

“I’m sorry,” is all he says and she shakes her head.

“Don’t be. It’s life, right?”

Killian stares at her silently for a few beats. Then, he straightens. “If you find yourself bored, I wouldn’t mind company during these next few weeks.”

Emma laughs softly. “Yeah? Is that what you say to all of the girls?”

He gives her a confused look, his eyebrow lifting skyward. “I don’t offer my company to just anyone, darling. Trust me.”

She hums, narrowing her eyes sarcastically, about ready to leave him out to dry. “Okay. Sure.” Emma takes a half step back and then forward again when she recognizes something all too pure and human in his eyes- loneliness. “Okay. That might be nice.”

“Aye,” he grins. Emma turns toward her apartment slightly, starting to head back. “I’ll try to keep my music down for you now.”

Emma laughs. “You better.”

..

It takes her all of four hours to get bored. She stares up at her ceiling, unable to fall back asleep, and then she spends three hours cleaning and watching TV, by _herself_ and she hears him just two doors over doing the same thing.

So, she gathers up a few things to visit, and that’s how she lands herself back at the doorstep of 202, this time feeling curious and perhaps a bit eager.

He answers with a grin, his eyebrows raised devilishly. “Ah. Missed me already.”

“Shut up or we’re not hanging out.”

He just laughs as she enters his apartment.

It’s clean, which somewhat surprises her. She hadn’t pinned him a neat freak and she’s kind of glad that he is.

Killian all but dances back into the room with her and waves a hand at the television. “I was just watching Star Wars, if you’d like to join me. Or we could-”

Emma plops herself down on the couch and settles in, toeing out of her shoes and opening up her bag of freshly popped popcorn.

“I’m so in.”

Killian grins so wide she’s afraid his face might split open. He sits down beside her and presses play.

She shares her popcorn with him and for the first time in a long time, Emma Swan enjoys the company of someone without pretenses.

..

She’s rather cute, Emma Swan.

He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t think she was, sitting beside him wearing her baggy graphic tee shirt with her wide rimmed glasses perched on her nose. Her golden hair is a bit tousled, as if she hadn’t even bothered to brush it, and her legs, covered in her flannel pajama pants, are crossed. Her toes are hidden by duckling socks that he’s certain are more fitting on her than anything.

She is the prettiest girl he’s ever come to know, even if he doesn’t truly know her.

They’ve been binging Star Wars for a little over three hours now and her commentary is witty and suggests that she may be a bit more of a fanatic than even he is. He, who has limited edition  _everything_ back home.

At one point, he finds himself staring at her rather than at the screen, which used to be utter blasphemy to him but now he can’t help himself, just enjoying the way she soaks in the film.

She turns to look at him and it catches her off guard, her eyelashes fluttering against her cheeks as her ears turn pink. He smiles softly.

“You know, winter break might go by faster if we talk.”

Emma rolls her eyes, scoffing at his remark. “Yeah. I don’t do friends.”

He hums. “I don’t think _that’s_ true at all.”

“No?”

He shakes his head. “No, Emma, you’re something of an open book to me. I can tell that you’ve a soft heart but it’s guarded by those walls you’ve built up.” He leans in a little closer to her, pushing that line he knows he’s straddling. “Perhaps you’ve gotten your heart broken one too many times. Have you even been in love?”

She blinks at him and the movie is now long forgotten. Tears gather in her eyes as she steels herself, shaking her head. “No. I have never been in love.”

He knows she’s lying. But if she won’t tell him about the bastard that did this to her, then he presumes it’s for good reason.

Killian takes a breath and nods. “Aye.”

Emma glances back at the TV and then suddenly gathers up her things, making him close his eyes.

“I, um… I should go. I have work in a few hours.”

She hurries out of his apartment far too quickly for him to say anything else and he hates it.

..

When Emma returns from her shift at the diner, it’s almost one in the morning and she’s  _exhausted_. She’d spent the afternoon thinking about what Killian had said to her and it’s officially on her nerves.

As she steps up to her apartment door, she finds a package sitting on the floor. Unusual, considering she hasn’t ordered anything.

Emma kneels down and picks up the box, opening it as soon as she gets inside and sets her things down.

Inside the box, there is something that makes her smile. Cookies. Star Wars cookies.

And there’s a note that she reads as she nibbles on the sugar R2-D2.

_Swan,_

_I apologize for what happened earlier today. I realized a moment too late that I was overstepping. Please accept my humble gift of cookies as a token of my apology._

_I know it’s a long shot, but it being the Christmas season, I would be remiss if I didn’t invite you over again. I won’t bother you with personal questions and we can watch anything you’d like._

_Warm Regards,_

_Killian_

She’s unable to keep the smile from her lips. She falls asleep after programming his number, which he’d provided in a PS, into her phone and leaving him a message: _I’ll be over in the morning. I think I saw an xbox? - Swan_

Killian’s reply comes moments later: _That you did. I look forward to seeing you again Emma._

..

It becomes habit. She comes over to his apartment and they sit on his sofa and they eat junk food and binge watch movies and TV until they have work and then it starts all over again.

There are times, of course, that they talk. They keep their conversations light and Killian finds that he’s become quite enamored with the Swan from apartment 200. She’s beautiful, even when she doesn’t try to be, sitting there in her pajamas and knotty hair.

She laughs like an angel and sometimes, when he stares close enough, her freckles remind him of constellations.

Sometimes they play video games and she whoops his sorry arse halfway across the universe with how remarkably good she is at nearly everything she does.

Sometimes they break into song at the very same moment as they’re listening to music on the radio, driving through town in order to pick up supplies. (According to her it’s better for the environment- carpooling.)

Sometimes they go shopping together and she can’t stop laughing when he weasels his way up to the bakery attendant and flirts his way into getting a cookie that are typically reserved for children under the age of thirteen.

Sometimes they go to little cafes and he watches her as she people watches and it’s fascinating, seeing how she soaks in the world around her.

Sometimes he wishes he could get into her head and understand her.

Christmas is a day away the morning he wakes up to discover that a snow storm has rendered the apartment without power.

He sighs as he stares at his phone, finding that he has a missed call from work, no doubt informing him of snow too deep to drive in and ice too slippery to even think about heading anywhere on.

Killian shuffles into his kitchen and grabs his box of Lucky Charms with the radio on his phone letting him know in the background that yes, the snow storm is in fact record breaking, and no, people shouldn’t be leaving their places of dwelling. The state’s issuing a state of emergency and they’re being told to bunker down.

So, he grabs his blanket, plops down on the couch, and stuffs his face with handfuls of cereal, watching through the big windows before him as snow continues to fall fast and hard.

There’s a knock at his door and he narrows his eyes, not prepared for visitors this early in the day.

He clamors to his feet and whisks to the door, opening it breathlessly.

There, on the other side, stands none other than Emma Swan.

She’s adorable as always, her glasses on her nose and her hair tied up in a ponytail that swishes when she moves or speaks. Her pajamas are on and she has her favorite blanket wrapped tight around her shoulders.

“Power’s out,” she informs him, seeming exasperated.

He hums. “Aye. That it is.”

She tilts her head to the side. “I thought… maybe we could stick together? It’s kind of boring when all I have to do in my apartment pretty much all requires power.”

Killian chuckles and nods. “You can come in, Swan.” He pushes open the door for her, like always, and she enters with a shudder of her teeth.

“God, it’s freezing in here.”

“Aye,” he sighs. “Afraid there’s not much that can be done with the power out.”

Emma stands in his living room for a second in thought, and then a smile spreads on her lips.

“I have an idea,” she says. “It’ll keep us warm.”

He lifts an eyebrow, dragging his teeth over his lower lip as he deliberately sways toward her. “Well, love, if you wanted me to heat you up all you had to do was ask.”

She rolls her eyes playfully and smacks his chest, making him laugh happily. “Not what I meant, you idiot. I’ll be back in a few.”

He stares back at her as she walks out of his apartment and he figures that if he has to spend the day in solitude, he’s glad he at least has her to keep him company.

..

Emma returns to Killian’s apartment with a box and three pillows and a crap ton of blankets. Not to mention the hat atop her head and the mittens on her hands and the infinity scarf wrapped tight around her neck.

Killian opens the door and immediately gives her a curious look, to which she promptly holds out her box.

“I have one battery backup we can plug into the wall. We can use your coffee machine or the TV and watch some of my movies- also in the box.”

He takes the box and examines the things inside and a wry grin fills his lips. “Very smart thinking, Swan. I like it.”

She grins proudly. “Thought you might. I also found some board games and card games from my old roommate.”

“Delightful,” Killian beams as he shuts the door behind her. She sets her stuff down on the couch and sits, snuggling into her favorite blanket. “Well, I think we can have ourselves a good Christmas Eve after all.”

..

With hot mugs of coffee sitting in their laps, Emma and Killian turn on kid’s movies and end up playing board games on the floor for most of the morning. She wins some and grins smugly, much to his chagrin. He wins some and cheers, making her double over and groan.

By the time lunch rolls around, they have started talking animatedly about their classes and about their plans for after school.

He wants to be a teacher, which she finds sweet and endearing, and when she tells him she wants to be a social worker, he smiles softly and nods.

“I can see it, Swan. You’ll be grand.”

She hides her smile behind the rim of her mug. “Thanks.”

They decide to have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Killian insists on cutting them into triangles _without_ crusts, which she teases him relentlessly over, until he pops one into his mouth and takes their shared plate as if he won’t be sharing with her.

Emma widens her eyes and mouth. “Oh no you-!” She attacks him, hitting his chest until he lowers his arm, laughing the whole way through.

She takes the plate and gives him a warning look when he takes another from the pile. He just winks at her.

After lunch, they start watching Friends and Emma finds out that Killian doesn’t mind it when she extends her legs into his lap, so she does it and gets all the more comfortable with him.

He’s sweet and _cute_ and he’s funny, even if he is a child other times. She thinks she’s spending too much time with him for her own good, but it isn’t as if she has any other options.

Killian is the first person she’s ever become friends with who hasn’t required more of her than she’s been willing to give.

At one point, she must fall asleep to the laugh track, because when she wakes up, the TV screen is dark and the room is too.

Killian is still holding her feet, though, to her surprise, and his head is thrown back as he naps. She smiles a little to herself, turning on the couch so she can stare at him easier. She tugs her blanket up to her chin and licks her lips.

Her phone vibrates from within her pocket and she pulls it out, discovering that it’s six at night already. She sighs, sitting up.

Her movement is enough to wake Killian up, who sits straight up and takes a deep breath, staring at her with wide eyes. “Wha-”

She laughs, reaching in to brush back his hair. “We fell asleep.”

He eases at her words, nodding. “Aye. What time is it?”

“Six,” she says, showing him her phone. He nods. “I should go.”

He narrows his eyes at her. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I don’t mind your company.”

She stares at him in the dark and her fingers find his hair again as her eyes trace lines over his face.

“Besides,” he lowers his voice, a small smile on his lips, “it’s almost Christmas.”

Emma wraps her arms around her knees and presses her cheek to the side of his couch, staring at him, biting her lip. He gazes at her just like she’s doing to him and it makes her heart squeeze tight.

“Stay,” he whispers, reaching out for her hand.

The last time she stayed, she ended up regretting that decision, but she knows with Killian it’s different. It’s always been different. Two weeks of hanging out with him has proven to her that much.

“Okay.”

..

It turns out staying is a good idea. The power is still out, but that doesn’t stop them from making a pillow and blanket fort, bringing Killian’s laptop inside, and sipping cocoa while they watch Pirates of the Caribbean.

It’s comfy in their fort. She’s lying beside Killian, her head propped up with a pillow, and her blanket wrapped around her. He’s holding the laptop on his waist and she can’t help but feel just a little bit special, getting to do this with him.

“How much longer do you think the power will be out?” she asks when the movie is finished.

“I don’t know,” he sighs. He sets his laptop down beside him and turns to look at her. “Maybe it’ll be a Christmas miracle.”

She laughs at that, pressing her head against his shoulder. “Maybe.”

They rest there in silence for a long while. “Emma?”

“Hm?”

“I think… I know it hasn’t been long, but I think you’re my best friend.”

A smile spreads on her face and she snuggles closer to him. “I think you might be mine too.”

Killian takes his arm around her and she closes her eyes, content.

..

There is something magical about Christmas, he’s fairly certain.

He only has fond memories of it; of spending those days with Liam and way back when, with his father too. Warm around the fire, or even stuck shoveling the truck out of a ditch, Christmas has always brought him close to those around him, and this Christmas is no different.

Emma Swan rests her head on his shoulder and he _loves_ it. He loves the way she smells, the way her warmth seeps into him. He loves the sound she makes when she breathes and the sound of her voice when she talks.

“My mother died when I was born,” he says lowly. “I don’t remember her. Liam does. He tells me about her sometimes. Our father left us when I was five. He was a good man, just… caught up in a lot of things he shouldn’t have been.”

Emma sits up then, frowning. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he promises, smiling as if to prove his point. “Liam raised me right.”

She smiles sadly at him. “Doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt sometimes, though.”

“Aye,” he sighs. “You’re right.”

Emma takes a deep breath and he can sense her walls tumbling down right before his very eyes.

“My parents abandoned me on the side of a freeway in Maine,” she tells him softly, no hint of anger whatsoever in her tone, just tiredness. “They left me wrapped up in a blanket that had my name on it and a little boy found me, named August, who was abandoned too. He stayed with me for a while, but we got separated when I was two. I found him a little while ago, in Arizona. He’s kind of my family, I guess, but I haven’t found my birth parents and I don’t think I ever will.”

Killian frowns. “You deserve happiness, Emma. Don’t allow this to break you.”

She smiles at him. “I won’t. That’s why I want to be a social worker. Because maybe I can help kids find homes even though no one could help me, right?”

There are tears in her eyes and he aches to kiss them away, but he knows better. He reaches out to wipe them when they fall, making her close her eyes and laugh through her nose.

“Thanks.”

He tilts his head to the side, smiling back at her. “What are best friends for?”

..

There’s something that feels so right about Killian and it’s beyond her to even question it, because in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter that they’ve only known each other for two weeks. He understands her and that’s much, much more to her than anything ever has been.

They sit together under the canopy of blankets and stare outside at the snow. It’s slow, trickling to Earth to the tune of Nat King Cole that’s playing on Killian’s laptop speakers.

The more she starts thinking about him, the more she realizes that she _really_ likes him. And it’s not just because he’s attractive, and it’s not just because he’s a good person with morals and a strong head on his shoulders.

It’s in the nerdy things he likes- Star Wars and Star Trek and how he knows every line from Doctor Who episodes. And there are moments where she wonders if he’s actually real because his taste in music is _fantastic_ and so is his voice.

He plays the guitar, she’s learned quickly, and he likes to spend his weekends giving to others at soup kitchens. They’d spent one afternoon doing that together last week and it was beyond sweet to watch him as he knelt down to cheer up a shy little girl.

He’s smart and he’s driven and he listens, he never speaks over her. He likes Lucky Charms and he drinks his coffee black and he doesn’t say bologna, he sings it.

He has candles and he likes quiet moments. He wears anchors on his socks and Converse on top of those.

And she likes every single thing about who he is. He hasn’t pushed her to feel like this and she’s surprised that he’s managed to wiggle his way into her heart so flawlessly, but he has.

Emma finds that her feelings for him are real and it should scare the crap out of her, but instead, she stares at Killian in the dimness of their fort. He’s quiet and thoughtful as he stares out at the snow. She wonders if he’s thinking about Christmas back home with Liam, or if he’s thinking about her.

She grabs her phone and quietly snaps a picture of him, and then, biting down on her lip, she starts tapping away at her device.

“It’s midnight,” he says suddenly. “That means it’s Christmas.” Killian furrows his brow when she looks up at him. “What are you doing?”

A wry smile fills her lips as she shows him a picture of mistletoe. She takes her phone and holds it up above their heads.

“The rule about mistletoe is-”

“I bloody well know the rule, Swan,” he says, mirth in his eyes. “But are you certain you’d like a kiss from me?”

Emma shifts closer to him, searching her heart for that tickle it gets when she _isn’t_ certain about anything, but she doesn’t find it. Instead, she finds contentment.

“It’s my Christmas wish,” she says softly, lifting an eyebrow.

Killian presses his palm against her cheek and then he’s surging forward and his lips are soft against hers.

She wraps her arms around his neck and smiles against his lips, something that makes him hum. He kisses her lips once more after the fact, then again, until she laughs and he does too, nudging his nose against hers.

Magic- pure magic- is all she can compare the kiss to. It truly surpasses any expectation she may have had, and she’s not sure she’s going to be able to let it just be a kiss under the mistletoe.

“That was-” he breathes against her lips.

Emma’s fingers tug at his hair, her lips brushing against his as she whispers, “ _So_ not a one time thing.”

He surges forward and she ends up on her back, giggling against his mouth as he all but devours her.

“You’ve got no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that,” he whispers. “I saw you so many times in the building but I never imagined you’d let me kiss you.”

She gives him a look. “You’re such a cheese ball.”

He chuckles and kisses the tip of her nose sweetly. “Come, Swan, you’re probably getting tired. I’ll sleep out here if you want the bed.”

He helps her sit up but Emma shakes her head “I think I’m good. I’ll stay here with you. Have to keep each other warm, right?”

A wide grin spreads on his face. “Aye.”

As they lie down, they hear the heat turn on, along with a few appliances beeping to life. But they are undeterred, Emma pressing her face against Killian’s chest and his arm wrapped tight around her.

..

In the morning, Killian wakes to find that Emma has left his side. In a panic, he jolts upright, only to find that, once he’s out of the fort built of blankets and pillows, she’s standing in his kitchen preparing breakfast with dance in her step.

He smiles, relieved, and steps toward her. “Morning.”

She turns and her smile shines. “Hey. Morning. Sorry. I was hungry and-”

“It’s alright,” he shrugs.

Emma plates the pancakes and he immediately grins.

“What shape are these?”

She shrugs slyly. “Yoda.”

He hums. “That’s what I thought.” Emma winks at him and turns back to her task. “So you’re, like, a super fan? Got the pancake shape cutter?”

She bites down on her lip as he comes to her side and she looks up at him. “Does my nerdiness disturb you?”

“Not at all,” he says. He settles his hand onto her hip and she turns to him.

“What do you think? Pancakes and a marathon?” She asks, not fazed one bit when he leans in close.

“That sounds fantastic.”

He kisses her softly and her lips curl upward. “Good. Because that’s all I want to do today.”

Killian hums. “I can think of a few other things we could do. Maybe.”

With that, he presses a button on his phone and it triggers the speaker system to blast some Christmas music. He starts dancing to it.

Emma laughs and it brightens his very day. She runs her teeth over her lower lip as she takes his hand and dances along with him.

“Merry Christmas, Killian.”

“Merry Christmas, Emma.”


End file.
